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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Getting Motivated

Feeling disorganized? Not adequately juggling your personal and business life? Do you feel unfocused? If so, you’re not alone. Expressly designed to combat these business maladies, personal growth coaches are becoming almost common in the corporate world. While most people have heard of pioneering “gurus” such as Tony Robbins and Zig Ziglar, fewer are aware that numerous lesser-known growth coaches have cropped up to specifically cater to the business community. Many local executives and company presidents attribute a great deal of their success to coaches that have aided their managerial abilities. Stepping into Marx Acosta-Rubio’s Chatsworth office, one notices the autographed framed photos of the nine personal growth coaches that have heavily influenced the One Stop Shop’s president and CEO’s life. “These coaches have played a major role in my business and personal life. I have learned to always have a positive mental attitude. The coaches that I have used teach discipline, focus, and integrity. The philosophies embedded in their teachings help me to achieve my goals,” Acosta-Rubio said. He said nine coaches have benefited him. They are: Jim Rhon, Steven Heller, W. Clement Stone, Napoleon Hill, Daniel Inosanto, Zig Ziglar, Tom Hopkins, Tony Robbins, and Harvey McKay. The chief executive officer of Willis North America’s Western Region, Woodland Hills resident H. David Wood, has worked extensively with TEC, a company that aims to increase the effectiveness, enhance the lives and reduce the stress of business owners, CEOs, presidents and senior level key executives. “It’s helped me to be clearer on my strategic direction. TEC has let me be more confident in taking risks and given me a forum to bounce negative things off of,” Wood said. “That old adage it’s lonely at the top is not inaccurate. You don’t want to confide in peers, your superiors or people below you in the company. It’s almost natural to have a coach to hash out issues with.” In existence since 1957, TEC has offices scattered across five continents. Its website maintains that people should join the company only if they embrace change and growth, they are open to honest and candid feedback, they are energized by challenges, and they are “creative and innovative” thinkers. Wood’s TEC group meets at locations scattered throughout the Valley. “We try to increase the effectiveness of business owners, CEOs and presidents,” Mitch Pearlman, Chairman of TEC Group 134 said. “What may differentiate us is that we work on personal and professional growth. If someone works too much then we help them with their balance. If they need help with business then we help their business skills. The magic behind TEC is less of what I have to offer, it’s more the brainpower of the talented individuals that we bring together. I harness their energy as they problem- solve through their daily issues.” Paying the price While numerous businessmen have been helped by TEC, it’s not cheap to have one’s energy harnessed. All-day meetings occur once a month, with CEOs forking over $950 a session, while key executive groups cost $475. Though often marketed otherwise, many of the techniques used by personal growth coaches are directly related to therapy, albeit therapy with a business tint to it. Woodland Hills psychologist Angela Rukule believes that businessmen blanch at the idea of going to a psychologist, thinking that it connotes weakness. “It’s not in vogue for businessmen to go to a therapist because it invokes weakness. But these coaches have become a social and business phenomenon. It’s the result of the stressful evolution of our world that people are looking for a sense of grounding, a sense of stability, and a place and a way to deal with all the intense changes,” Rukule, the clinical director of Integrated Awareness Programs, said. “The truth is that there’s less of a stigma to it, you get a psychological perspective to deal with managerial issues and trends that are changing. It’s all psychologically based but couched in a way that’s less threatening. Therapists have found that if they write “personal training coach” on their card, and they understand business, it’s an effective marketing tool.” Marc Bishara, a partner in Woodland Hills’ Venbrook Risk Management and Insurance, has also seen dividends from working with personal growth coaches. “I’ve worked with personal growth coaches for at least six years. I’ve had good experiences. I went to a coach not because I was failing, but because I wanted to take it to the next level. To get into the zone. I’ve become more focused and more accountable. My communication has also improved markedly,” Bishara said. Bishara’s coach, Andrea Edwards of Altadena-based Edwards Associates, estimates that 70 percent of her business is performance coaching. Edwards asserts that though coaching possesses similarities with psychotherapy, key differences remain. Business oriented “Psychotherapists can get much deeper as to why people behave a certain way. A coach talks more about their business life and how the personal life impacts the business life,” Edwards said. “Coaches don’t need a license to practice. It’s similar to therapy in that most good coaches provide a safe non- judgmental place to talk about the issues.” Ultimately, Rukule advised caution to those seeking out a personal growth coach of their own. Though many people have prospered from external guidance, without any set training standards one always faces the risk of dealing with an unqualified coach. “Coaches take the premise of creating a healthy environment in your world and market it to you. One should ask themselves, ‘Do I need to do this and are these the right steps to move forward?”‘ Rukule said. “Many coaches, particularly the famous ones, are very dynamic and enticing because of their theories. If you are a growth centered person, change can happen. But be sure that you are provided with the right tools to achieve success. Anything that promises success without giving you real tools is giving you a temporary high.”

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